The Great Divide

In recent years the world has been divided into believers and non-believers.

I’m not talking about religion — although there is an almost religious fervour displayed by protagonists on both sides of this great divide.

I’m talking about Climate Change, Global Warming — call it what you will. Some believe it’s a clear and present danger to the future of life on Earth and others are convinced it’s a complete nonsense.

I can even imagine some of you right now saying to yourselves, uh oh, the world’s oldest greenie is about to subject us to some tree hugging mumbo jumbo.

I wouldn’t be surprised or offended if you did, simply bemused by your myopia.

As in any debate we humans get into from time to time it’s quite easy to validate any point of view if you have the gift of the gab and enough facts to provide a convincing argument. And since there appears to be respected scientists firmly rooted on either side of the great climate change divide, this is possible whatever your point of view.

For every solar flare and ice age argument there are others offering up a raft of recent data proving undeniably that the earth is heating up due to human actions.

All I know for sure is that the debate is heating up.

And the language of this debate borders on the farcical. Especially, I’m bound to say, on the part of the non-believers who seem convinced that those who believe in Global Warming are pinkos or lunatics determined to bring down society as we know it. In this corner I’d place some of the journalists in Rupert Murdoch’s media empire who seem hell bent on mounting personal attacks on Climate Change protagonists, positioning them as a lunatic fringe posing a real threat to modern life and business.

And the looming presence of unfathomable Carbon Emission Tax schemes has simply added fuel to this debate. It is no longer an environmental argument but an economic one. And while the rest of us argue the pros and cons of a tax we don’t fully understand, those who see the opportunity in profiting from trading in carbon credits are licking their lips.

Meanwhile, in the war of words and clash of philosophies and political agendas it seems to me we’ve gotten away from the heart of the matter.

Regardless of your politics or view on climate change, surely you must agree that reducing pollution of any kind — carbon emissions included — can only be a good thing for life on Earth, now and forever.

So let’s stop all this time wasting, point scoring, name calling bullshit and get on with the important business of protecting this planet.